OpenAI’s Code Red 🚨 20-Minute Reels 🎬 PR Wisdom ✍️

December 04, 2025

In partnership with

Welcome to the last lap of the year. That holiday twilight zone where most people are winding down and startup marketers are somehow… ramping up? This week, we’ve got advice from a 15-year PR veteran, OpenAI’s “code red” plan, 20-minute Reels, and some fresh Pew data on the platforms gaining traction.

So let’s dig in.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • ✍️ The Ink Well

  • 🌎 Around the Web

  • ❓ SUM Poll

  • 📋 SUM Job Board

  • 😂 In the Meme Time

THE INK WELL

Meet Jenna West

Jenna joins us with the kind of honesty only a 15-year PR veteran can deliver: nothing in marketing works alone, your budget will try to betray you, and the real skill is learning to track everything before it becomes a very expensive mystery.

Have a strong POV? Submit your pitch to get published in The Ink Well.

Find customers on Roku this holiday season

Now through the end of the year is prime streaming time on Roku, with viewers spending 3.5 hours each day streaming content and shopping online. Roku Ads Manager simplifies campaign setup, lets you segment audiences, and provides real-time reporting. And, you can test creative variants and run shoppable ads to drive purchases directly on-screen.

Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

AROUND THE WEB

  • AI-driven traffic to retail sites jumped 805% year-over-year on Black Friday, and shoppers who clicked through to retail sites from an AI service were 38% more likely to buy something compared to traffic from other sources, Adobe reports. [Adweek]

  • Instagram now lets you post 20-minute Reels. [Lindsey Gamble]

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a “code red,” pausing new projects (like ChatGPT ads) to focus on the everyday user experience. [AP]

  • LinkedIn’s new B2B guide basically says if you want growth, stop hiding. Show up where buyers actually look, build brand cues they can spot in a crowd, and simplify your product story. [SocialMediaToday]

  • Pew’s social media report shows that while YouTube and Facebook still dominate daily use, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Reddit are quietly becoming essential for reaching younger, more diverse, and more digitally fluent audiences. [Pew Research]

SUM POLL

Who’s your favorite copy collaborator 🦾?

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SUM JOB BOARD

If a new role is on your 2026 vision board, check out the SUM Job Board. It’s packed with roles that offer autonomy, variety, and real impact (a.k.a. the stuff startup marketers thrive on).

IN THE MEME TIME